Khmer Morning News

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Lack of Sanitation Costs Millions: Bank

Around 10 million rural Cambodians live without proper sanitation and toilets, a major drain of money and resources, a World Bank team has found.

“Based on an economic analysis of sanitation, there’s an annual loss of $190 million, for just a health problem,” Kov Phyrum, a water supply and sanitation analyst for the World Bank said Monday.

Without access to clean water and other sanitation, money is wasted, he said.

“If people urinate and defecate on the ground outside, when the rain comes it drains into water resources, like the ponds, rivers and lakes,” he said, as a guest on “Hello VOA.” That in turn leads to disease, “and if people drink the water, they will become sick with diarrhea and waste a lot of time and money and services.”

Kov Phyrum recommended people use rain water when possible and also wash their hands often to prevent disease.